Fish Report

Well, it sure is nice to at least get a little break from all the super cold weather we have been having. It is amazing when it manages to get up to the high teens or low 20s with the sun shining you feel like spring is here. This has to be one of the Decembers for the record books or at least the coldest for the last number of years.

Some of the people that are really happy about the cold weather are those that are already out on the lake trying their luck at ice fishing. There are a lot of ice fishing shanties out on the lake and a lot out on Bay de Noc already enjoying an early start to the season.

I have always thought it was interesting the way ice fishermen set up out on the lake. It seems that they all like this one area so 99 percent of the shanties are together in one spot. Then someone must come out and try another spot and have some luck because the next time you go by almost all the shanties have migrated like some ants on the move over to the new spot. Is there any better luck over at the new spot now seeing there has to be dozens and dozens of hooks floating around trying to entice the fish now.

The other crew that should have fun this Christmas season is those that like to snowmobile. They are already working on the snowmobile trails so they should be frozen in and ready to go with all the cold weather.

I guess and hope I never get tired of enjoying the great outdoors and having the chance to get around and see all the beauty of God’s creations. For some reason there seems to be a lot of mature eagles around the area this year. Wifee and I never get tired of seeing and watching mature eagles sour through the air.

You know Wifee always asks me what I would like for Christmas and I always tell her the same thing. There is not a thing I need. I have everything a person could want in life and there is nothing I really need or want.

I have a special wife, four great kids the Lord has blessed us with, their spouses, and all our grandchildren, what more could I want. We are all in good health which is something money cannot buy. Along with our extended family and the friends we have, life could not be any better. So if there was nothing at all under the Christmas tree for me I could list so many things I already have.

Maybe it has something to do with growing up when all you had at Christmas was mom and dad, brothers and sisters, grandparents, and friends. There was not a lot under the tree and what there was usually was something you needed like a new winter coat.

In fact, a lot of times you received your Christmas present before Christmas because you needed it for deer season. There was just not enough back in those days where you could get the winter clothes you needed and then also get a Christmas gift.

In fact, there were some years after the mill shut down where the six kids in our family had to draw names because you could not get five gifts plus mom and dad’s present for everyone in the family. But we never lacked having a great time at Christmas. Mom and dad seemed to always be able to make Christmas so special for all of us and we sure had a great time.

We even made our Christmas tree back in those days. Off you would go to where there was usually a road where someone had a logging job going. You would hunt around until you found a good looking top of a spruce or balsam tree and cut it off and drag it home. Out in the woods it looked small but when you got it home it was way too tall to fit in the house. So you would cut it off again.

Then with an electric drill you would drill a hole in the trunk of your tree and fill it in with branches from your leftover part of the tree. Back then everything was a project and a family project at that.

So get out there and plan to have an old fashion Christmas packed with family time and a lot of love.